march prompt

In terms of decoration, it's a very simple prompt -- the only thing I did to the action list was applying a digital "take action" stamp and turning the color aqua (as it's my accent color  for the album this year).

Here's the translation:


Word: GRATEFUL

1. Scrapbooking

write out my scrap story and come up with a plan for 2015 (it's never too late!)
every month put what I'm going to scrap on my calendar and hang it in front of my table
minimum to complete: OLW 2015; Project Life 2015; Week in The Life 2014; December Daily 2014 and 2013 (yes, I know, I know)

2. Let go

take pictures of the things I no longer want (especially my scrap stash)
post them for sale
give away the unsold

3. Home

buy a table and chairs, curtains (kitchen and living room), photo frames, candles, dishes, cups and a few containers
make a Control Journal
declutter and learn to keep the house clean
a dream: ...paint the walls...

4. Tea

read "Tea" by Pohlebkin (write out the most important things)
learn Chinese tea ceremony
buy the inventory for it

reflections in the album

I was thinking on the ways of adding my monthly reflections to my One Little Word album, and here's what I came up with.

In the end of every month I write a long blog post on how I'm doing with my 2015 intentions. Instead of printing it out and sticking into the album I decided to choose the most important things that I've accomplished and write them out on a little reflections card. I write in Russian, but they look like this:

debt:  hooray! eliminated
scrap: 5 layouts and signed up for OLW
home: decluttered the balcony and gave away all the stuff we didn't need
photography: reading "Beyond Portraiture" by Brian Peterson













Thus, I only see the things I've accomplished and it makes me smile and want to do more.

And how are you adding your reflections to your albums?

march reflections

Each month I'm going to look back at my 2015 intentions, see how I'm doing and set some more specific goals for the next month.

This month we all got down with flu, so I sort of lost my track on what was going on, just trying to survive and to keep everyone else in the house alive. Still, some of the things miraculously got done (not much).

love

I indeed started tracking my Bible studies with a calendar, and liked it. Going to keep it for April, too. 

scrapbooking

finished January in a 2015 album! How cool is that? Also, January and March OLW prompts are done. Woo-hoo!

blog daily

this is my personal heartbreak. Not a single post since we got ill.

home

doing great here. FlyLady system really works wonders (or, rather, I finally got ready for it).

tea

really deep into that Pohlebkin's Tea book and loving it, of course. Bought a gaiwan, too, and one of my favorite oolong teas (Tie Kuan Yin -- like this one) and a black tea with lots of tips (which provide a fantastic aroma).

relationships

thanks to the illness we really became closer with the kids -- I had to always be with them, to take care of them, to go to bed early with them.

food

not eating much since the flu doesn't really boost your appetite.

exercise

nope.

go to bed and wake up early

surprisingly, yes! and it worked out just fine. Hope I'll be able to keep it up even when I'm not ill.

photography/design/writing

Still reading Beyond Portraiture by Brian Peterson (photography) and signed up for Everyday Photography class from BigPicture Classes.


APRIL INTENTIONS:

Love: tick off every day I read the Bible and read/watch Lazarev. Take notes as I do. Make them into art prints, make them visible, tangible reminders (there are at least 3 already on my mind: treasure, strength&dignity, divine qualities).

Relationships: go for a walk with kids every day. Come up with activities that we could do together and enjoy together. Something I would look forward to, too.

Scrapboking: OLW Feb, Apr and Reflections. PL Feb, Mar. Occasional layouts are welcome, too.

Blog: every day.

Home: photograph my stash already!!

Tea: finish off the book and write out the most important things. Take a trip to the Golden Monkey (local tea and coffee shop) every week so that I always have a supply of good tea. 

grateful :: January prompt

January prompt is done (why, it's only the middle of March after all).

I normally follow Ali's directions pretty close with just a little variation when necessary. This time the definition of my word was pretty short (three lines), so there was no way I could make it a whole opening page. I just put there a photo enlargement with my word (in Russian) and a year (2015) instead.

 Then goes the story of how I found the word. I cut an 8,5x11 page protector into 5,5x11 and secured the opening with a tab.

I know you can sew along the edge or use some washi tape to cover the cut, but surprisingly, that label holds it really well and you can't say the cut side of the page protector is open at all.

When you turn this page you can see my word in English and the part with little cards and pictures.

Another page protector cut from the top and secured with the tab.

The first task was to write out the definition of my word {GRATEFUL}. It's in English, so no need for translating here.

 Then comes the Invitation card (about the things I'd like to invite into my life). It says:

1. love

2. truth

3. patience. calm

4. courage

5. joy

Then the Quotation -- mine doesn't have {GRATEFUL} in it, it's just the reminder of what I'd love to be like:

She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
Proverbs 31:25






I also decided to go black and white this year plus aqua as an accent color (as it's the color of my album, the color of this cool plastic heart from Ali's Gatherings Story Kit and, hands up, just my favorite color of all).

When you turn the page you can see the next spread:

The heart represents love (of course), and I chose pictures to remind me to:

- love God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind.
- love myself.
- love my neighbor as myself.

The Let Go card is about the things I'd like to let go of:

1. perfectionism

2. feeling that i'm right

3. complaints

4. anger

5. tension

 The Reason Why card is about my reasons for choosing {GRATEFUL} as my one little word this year:

to come closer to God

to soften

to fill my heart with love and gratitude

The next page is this fill-in-the-blanks:

 In what ways is this word already a part of my life?

I'm really grateful that in every situation there's always a chance to learn to love more. I'm really grateful that there's always a chance to change.
I'm really grateful for my family.

What do I want less in my life? What do I want more?

More calm. Less anger.
More funny. Less serious.
Less perfectionism.
More truth.
Less imitating. More of my own.
Less panic. More doing.
Less complaining. More embracing.
Less stuff.
More happy.

 What am I most excited about in 2015?

I'm really excited about a chance to change my character and be happier.

And scrapping tons and tons.

And starting a blog.

What do I most fear in 2015?

I fear that I won't make any layouts or albums, will just get distracted and procrastinate and plan a lot, but do nothing tangible.

I fear that I won't find my own path, that I don't have enough talent and knowledge and experience to make something interesting.

I also wrote out my intentions in Russian.


















I really love this January prompt -- it feels so good to actually write it out. Writing has always been one of the only two ways of processing information for me (the second one is a heartfelt conversation). Really, I can't figure anything out unless I write it down or talk about it for quite some time.

And which prompt is your favorite?

one little word 2015 :: GRATEFUL

I did it! I just signed up for Ali Edwards' One Little Word workshop.

I took part in it back in 2014 and loved it, but this year I was going to stop shopping online as we were trying to save money.

However, we paid off our debt much sooner than expected, and the first thing I thought of was this OLW class. I know, two months passed and we're already half into the third one, but I really believe it's not too late to jump in.

I actually chose my word in November 2014 while reading this post by Ali Edwards (yes, this name appears on this blog much too often, but, well, Ali is my mentor; no, she doesn't know about it yet).

It resonated with me from the very start. I remember reading these words -- 

...the key, I think, is to practice savoring moments and being grateful both when you're in the mess and when you're not in the mess. Do it when it's hard. Do it when it's easy. That's what makes it a practice... 

--  and thinking: "Gratitude! I now know my word for the next year". 

I loved the idea of such a practice. I, too, want to be the person who, even in the middle of all the crazy, can take a deep breath and be thankful. 

I started the year writing out my intentions and trying to live my word instead of making an album devoted to it entirely. I thought that I'd be just fine all by myself, and that a little journal to jot my thoughts down would be more than enough.

It wasn't. In my mind, I kept wishing I was there with all the guys from the class. There is something about having a community of people on a journey together, although I was never posting anything on Facebook, just reading. I also missed Ali's monthly videos.

There is this other thing, too -- I realized that there's actually a point in making an album. I first thought it was a bit too much. It took me ages to finish every prompt, I literally spent hours looking for the right photos to illustrate my ideas and to edit my texts. I thought it wasn't worth all the trouble (as I was doing in just for me, not for anyone else to look at), that I could just live with my word and write how I'm doing in a journal.

However, this year, after looking through my 2014 album I actually felt great. So inspired and thankful! It's worth every minute spent working on it, every bit of effort I invested in it, because it really makes a difference. I was looking through it and felt all sorts of feelings. It really makes my word more tangible, it really resonates with me, touches my deepest feelings. I learned so much about myself and my life, I actually changed enough to start a blog and keep it going, to overcome my perfectionism and JUST DO instead of thinking and planning and gathering and then almost doing what I was going to do. I learned that a thing done imperfectly is way better than a thing that could have been done perfectly, but wasn't done at all.

I'm so happy I'm now in! Downloaded the prompts, watched the videos and started doing all of them at once. January and March already finished (sharing tomorrow if the light is good enough to photograph), and the magazine for the February prompt is already bought.

Have any of you guys taken up this class a few times, too? Have you missed it if you skipped a year? I'd love to know!

february reflections

Each month I'm going to look back at my 2015 intentions, see how I'm doing and set some more specific goals for the next month.

love

Come on, this was my most important goal, but I haven't really made it a priority. I'll try again this month.

get out of debt

Done (here's how).

scrapbooking

Not too bad! At least three layouts, and a few more I haven't shared on the blog yet (a two-pager which I just can't find the right patterned paper for the background of the left page, and an introduction to the whole Komissariat History which I'll share on the blog a bit later). I also signed up for One Little Word workshop as we're now debt-free (more details coming soon).

blog daily

Ummm well, epic fail here. only 8 posts this month! It's been a tough month for me in terms of me time. Sensei working away from home and me falling asleep exhausted at the end of the day instead of writing posts at night as I would usually do -- that sort of thing.

home

Sort of lost my track on this one, but not completely, not hopelessly. Got the balcony in order (which I thought was impossible), got a lot of things out of the house (gave away or just threw away). 

letting go of stuff

I really wanted to take pictures of my scrap supplies and post them for sale, but the huge amount of them made me procrastinate. I'll try to come up with a strategy for this.

tea

Absolutely not. A huge coffee drinker this month, all the time. I got a lot of coffee beans as a gift and in order for them not to lose their freshness I really had to use them up. So I completely forgot about tea.

relationships

Learning that it takes time to change. That no one is going to be perfect, never, and it's totally okay. That I should always keep on trying.

food

Eating out a bit more often than is good for me (I can't order healthy food and I have to try everything, especially in a new place). It reminds me of how in one of Murakami books a beautiful middle-aged woman ordered white fish and salad with just a drop of dressing... she was lean and trim, but never on a diet, just decided once and for all to pay attention to what she was eating. I love that. To pay attention to what you're putting into your mouth -- goes really well with all my attempts at being more mindful. Gotta try this attitude.

exercise 

Sensei recorded a 15-min workout video for me, so while he was away I'd play this video and try to do what he was doing. Honestly, that's been such fun.

go to bed and wake up early

Epic. Fail.
The only way for me to get some time at my computer is at night when the kids are sleeping. Nothing else works. Sad, but true.

photography/design/writing

Reading Beyond Portraiture by Brian Peterson (loved Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color and Composition in Photography long ago, and now long for Understanding Exposure).

All right then! Here come

MARCH INTENTIONS (and how I'm going to make them happen):

Love: make a calendar where I could tick off every day I read the Bible and watched Lazarev. Take notes as I do. Make them into art prints, make them visible, tangible reminders.

Relationships: kids. I need to be more present. I'll try to go for a walk every day after breakfast, preferably to the forest.

Scrapbooking: OLW tasks (Jan, Feb, Mar), PL spreads (Jan and Feb).

Blog: every day.

Home: photograph my stash every day for 15 min.

Tea: read the book and jot down important stuff.

january reflections

In the end of every month, I'm going to look back at my 2015 intentions , see how I'm doing, and set some more specific goals for the next month.

Keep love in my heart

I've been thinking on ways to become a more loving person. However, I haven't been taking all the steps I've mentioned (didn't read, didn't watch, and got my Beatitudes project only half way through). So, this will go to Feb goals.

Getting out of debt

30 000 RUB saved. 75 000 RUB left.

Do some scrapbooking

Nothing! Not a single tangible thing done. I've prepared a few photos for printing out for my January part of the album and a have a few layouts planned, but that's just happening in my head (or in my computer). I've also worked out a plan (a plan! again) on my approach to scrapbooking this year - I'll start with the beginning of our story (2008) and will go on from there, simultaneously trying to scrap this passing 2015 year.
I still have lots of started projects to accomplish (december daily 2013, december daily 2014, week in the life 2014, 31 things 2014). And a dozen of classes not even started.
Help! Help! I need help!

Blog daily

I don't have a chance to sit down to my computer every day, but sometimes I can write a few posts in one go. This month I got 31 posts total, so I thought it counts for "blog daily".

And now, actions:

Home

Signed up for FlyLady and really, truly loved it. It brings me peace and puts a smile on my face. Organized bookshelves - they've been waiting for a year, right since we moved in. So happy to finally getting it done. Starting to feel just like I always wanted to feel when doing housework - like blessing my house. Doing it happily and gracefully, with no stress, but at peace (like Koreans). And I really want to buy some of those amazing tools in FlyLady shop - if only this year wasn't a year of savings... if we manage to get out of debt this year, I'm going to get all my housework supplies in 2016!

Letting go of stuff

Made a few pictures of my craft supplies, but really, so much to be done here...

Tea

Downloaded "Tea", a great book by Pohlebkin which I've already read once but don't remember a few important details. I've decided to start with it, as it's the most trustworthy source I know, and then I'll get closer to tea ceremony as it is. Again, if we manage to get out of debt this year, I'm buying my tea ceremony supplies in 2016.

Relationships

This month we had so many guests! Loved reconnecting with my old friends, they help me stay sane. Cooked for my parents twice.
Really want to do something for my kids, to learn to control my temper, make it a priority.

Food

Quite well here! We've sort of developed a plan while Sensei was working away from home and I hope to stick to it now, when he came back. Every day we had syrniky for breakfast, soup for dinner and seasonal fruit/vegetables for supper (here and now they are pomegranates, persimmon, tangerine, oranges and apples). Now that Sensei is here I don't know how it'll go. He's not a big fan of pancakes of any kind, he doesn't like cottage cheese (that's what syrniky are made of), and he'll never have just fruit for supper. I'll have to come up with some ideas... we'll see how it goes.

Exercise

Of course not. Not yet. Unless you count all sorts of hard physical job I'm going through being a mom to two really active toddlers.

Go to bed and wake up early

Alas, no. The point here is that I need some free time. I get it only when the kids are sleeping. In the evening and at night they sleep very well, so I use this time; but if I try to go to bed early and use morning hours instead, I'm afraid the kids are going to wake up early, too. I need to figure something out on this one.

Photography/design/writing

This blog, if it counts at all.

And then, being:

grateful

Thought on doing "three things I'm grateful for" project every day but didn't; I think I need to think of some twist on it to make it happen. Keeping a gratitude journal, maybe? Starting my night prayer with gratitude? I like this one, by the way.

calm

Sunday is now a renew-my-spirit day.

brave

When I remember, I can do things even if they scare me.

joyful

Trying to find funny in challenging times.

Notes: I'm considering Leo Babauta's Sea Change program as it touches upon many of the changes I'm working on. The only thing is, it's not free, so I won't be able to take it up this year. Maybe in 2016, if we manage to get debt-free.

This is it; not too bad, really. Writing this out makes me feel like I'm doing something. So, based on these reflections, here come

FEBRUARY INTENTIONS:

Read the Bible.
Watch Lazarev.
Connect with my kids.
Make something scrap-related every day!!
Take pictures of my craft supplies and post them for sale.
Read Tea when I have a chance.
Try waking up at 4 a.m.
Remember three things I'm grateful for before falling asleep.